LIFE  AND  CONFESSIONS 


JAMES  GILBERT  JENKINS 


MURDERER  OF  EIGHTEEN  MEN. 


UI'.I'OR TED  AND  ARRANGED  FOR  THK  TRESS  BY 

R .    K  .    WOOD. 


l;V 
C.    II.    A  LLKN     AM.    \l.    K.    WOOD. 

XAI'\     CITY. 


]'l;l.NTKI>    »V    WILLIAM     P.    IIAIMMsn.N 

:  17  Cl;iy  Strc.'t,  S:iu  1-Vain- 

1864. 


CO 


THET1EKARY 


LOS  ANGELED 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 
AT   LOS  ANGELES 


ROBERT 

ERNEST  COWAN 

JAMES  GILBERT  JENKINS. 


LIFE  AND  CONFESSIONS 


OP 

• 


JAMES  GILBERT  JEMISS: 


THE 


MURDERER  OF   EIGHTEEN  MEN. 


Containing  an  account  of  the  murder  of  eight  ichitc  men  and  ten  Indians;  together 
with  the  particulars  of  highway  robberies,  the  stealing  of  several  horses,  and 
numerous  other  crimes,  committed  in  Missouri,  Illinois,  Indiana,  Vir- 
ginia, Arkansas,   Tennessee,    Texas,  New  Mexico,  Nebraska  and 
California  :  as  narmttd  by  himself  to  Col..  C.  H.  ALLEN, 
Sheriff  of  Napa  County,  ichilc.  in  jail  under  sentence  of 
death  for  the  murder  of  PATRICK  O'BRIEN. 


PHONOGRAPBICALLY  REORTED  AND  ARRANGED  FOR  THE  PRESS  BY 

R.    E.   WOOD. 


PUBLISHED    BY 

C.    H.    ALLEN   AND    R.   E.    WOOD, 

IST-A-IP-A.    OIT~5T. 

PRINTED    BY    WILLIAM    P.     HARRISON    &    CO., 

No.  417  Clay  Street,  San  Francisco. 

1SG4. 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  eighteen  hundred  and  sixty-four, 

BY    R.    E.    WOOD, 
In  the  Clerk's  office  of  the  United  States  District  Court  for  the  Northern  District  of  California. 


-hrV 


PREFATORY. 


IT  has  been  said  that  "  we  are  creatures  of  circum- 
stance;" that  we  are  tossed  about  here   and  there  upon 
the  great  sea  of  life  without  rudder  or  chart,  and   finally 
driven  into  such  port  to  which  the  ever  changing  wind  of 
circumstance  may  waft  us.     It  would  seem  that  in  some 
cases  such  is  the  result  of  human  life.     Whether  this  be 
so  or  not,  it  certainly  is  the  fact  that  circumstances  influence 
o   us  to  a  greater  or  less  degree,  for  good  or  for  evil,  and  it 
""I  becomes  every  well  wisher  of  the  human  race — every  one 
I   who  would  wish  to  see  crime  decrease — to  endeavor  to 

X3 

'  draw  around  himself  or  herself,  or  others,  (especially  the 
gj  young),  such  circumstances  as  shall  cause  them,  or  at  least 
influence  them,  to  act  in  accordance  with  that  divinely 
bestowed  Monitor  that  acts  with  unmistakable  power  in  every 
human  breast.  There  is  more  or  less  crime  being  enacted 
every  day;  and  these  golden  shores  have  been  stained  with 
the  blood  of  hundreds  of  human  beings,  that  need  not 
have  fallen  victims  to  the  assassin's  hand,  had  the  proper 
circumstances  been  thrown  around  the  perpetrators  ol  these 
bloody  deeds  while  yet  their  plastic  mirths  were  being 
molded  by  that  inconceivable  power — education!  The 
principal  object  of  this  little  work  is  not  to  pander  to  the 


4  Prefatory. 

taste  for  tragedy,  but  to  cause  the  people  to  see  and  more 
fully  realize  the  effects  and  ends  of  the  many  enticing  vices 
that  on  every  hand  are  alluring  the  youth  of  this  coast  on 
in  paths  of  crime. 

The  following  pages  tell  the  history  of  a  child  of  cir- 
cumstance. The  parents  of  James  Gilbert  Jenkins,  ac- 
cording to  himself  and  others  whom  I  have  conversed  with 
who  knew  them,  were  good,  honest,  upright  people ;  his 
sister  and  brothers  were  the  same;  and  up  to  the  time  when 
he  fell  a  victim  to  the  accursed  influence  of  that  gambler, 
thief,  robber,  murderer,  John  Forbes,  and  his  associates, 
there  was  nothing  that  marked  him  from  the  commonality 
of  his  fellows,  unless  it  be  that  his  mind  was  a  little  more 
active,  and  his  physical  system  better  developed.  For  all 
any  one  at  that  time  could  have  seen,  he  gave  promise  of 
being  a  good  and  intelligent  man.  But  these  blighting  cir- 
cumstances were  thrown  about  him ;  they  drew  him  from 
the  school  he  loved  so  well,  and  trained  his  naturally  pow- 
erful mind  in  ignorance  of  everything  except  the  criminal 
arts :  and  when  he  arrived  at  mature  manhood,  saw  the  po- 
sition he  occupied,  and  realized  the  fact  that  his  life  thus 
far  had  been  one  of  error  and  wrong,  prompted  by  the 
natural  goodness  of  his  nature,  he  resolved  and  vowed  to 
lead  a  better  life.  But  again  a  powerful  influence  is  thrown 
around  him ;  circumstances  that  his  nature,  already  familiar 
with  crime,  could  not  withstand,  and  the  last  great  error  of 
his  life  is  worked  out.  Society,  to  protect  itself,  dooms 
this  unfortunate  man  to  death  ;  and  while  he  stands  on  the 


Prefatory.  5 

very  brink  of  eternity,  just  ready  to  step  into  the  unknown 
future,  he  takes  a  retrospective  view  of  his  past  life,  ;m<l 
with  the  mind's  clear  eye  sees  the  causes  that  have  led  him 
to  the  place  where  he  now  stands.  With  an  aeliiiii:  In-art 
and  an  earnestness  known  only  to  one  in  his  position,  he 
tells  his  simple  story,  and  warns  others  from  a  similar 
career,  asking  that  parents  and  guardians  shall  look  well  to 
the  influences  and  circumstances  that  may  surround  the 
children  under  their  care.  He  said  that  since  being  under 
sentence  he  had  become  a  different  man,  and  his  only  wish 
was  that  he  might  be  the  cause  of  doing  some  little  good, 
and  thus  partly  atone  for  the  wrongs  he  had  done.  He 
thought  that  perhaps  his  story  and  warnings  might  be  the 
means  of  saving  more  persons  from  a  criminal's  life  than 
he  had  caused  to  suffer  by  his  crimes,  and  thus  his  life 
might  still  not  be  all  a  blank.  He  felt  what  he  said,  and 
the  warm  tears  quite  frequently  coursed  down  his  cheeks 
as  seals  to  the  earnestness  and  truthfulness  of  what  he 
said.  He  looked  over  his  past  life  with  sorrow  and  regret. 
One  Sunday  morning  I  was  reading  his  account  of  his  early 
life — m  the  presence  of  Col.  Allen — to  him,  and  when  I 
reached  that  point  in  the  story  when  he  left  home,  and 
school — the  turning  point  of  his  whole  career — he  pulled 
his  hat  down  over  his  face,  (in  manly  pride)  to  hide  tin; 
hot  tears  that  flowed  thick  and  fast  as  In-  thonirlit  of  ti 
young  and  innocent  days.  He  sat  there  a  minute  or  two 
trying  to  check  his  feelings,  but  he  was  unable  to  do  so, 
and  soon  went  into  his  cell  and  gave  them  full  vent  in  sobs 


6  Prefatory. 

and  moaning  for  nearly  half  an  hour,  when  the  Colonel 
went  in  and  persuaded  him  to  come  out.  With  great  ear- 
nestness he  warned  the  boys  against  drinking  spirituous 
liquors,  and  said  he  never  committed  a  crime,  or  never 
could  commit  one,  unless  under  the  influence  of  alchoholic 
spirits  ;  and  it  was  that  bottle  of  whiskey  that  caused  him 
to  kill  O'Brien  at  that  time,  and  in  so  reckless  a  manner  as 
he  did. 

We  claim  no  literary  merit  whatever  in  this  work.  It 
is  given  to  the  public  pretty  much  as  it  was  taken  from  the 
lips  of  this  unlettered  man,  in  phonographic  notes,  and  we 
only  hope  it  may  accomplish  the  object  he  desired.  Kind 
words  from  the  lips  of  so  hardened  a  criminal  as  he  was, 
should  be  treasured,  remembered  and  followed.  The  boys, 
especially  of  this  coast,  will  do  well  to  heed  his  warning, 
and  have  nothing  to  do  with  horse-racing,  gambling,  whiskey 
drinking,  or  keeping  bad  company,  for  these  will,  as  he  said, 
— and  every  man  of  sound  sense  will  sanction  it — lead  to 
crime,  and  it  may  be  to  the  gallows. 

K  E.  WOOD. 

Napa  City,  March  1st,  1864 


LIFE  AND  CONFESSIONS 


OF 


JAMES  GILBERT  JENKINS. 


EARLY  LIFE. 

I  was  born  in  Green  county,  North  Carolina,  on  the  llth  of 
August,  1834.  My  father's  name  was  John  Jenkins,  and  my 
mother's  Sally  Jenkins;  her  maiden  name  was  Underwood. 
In  the  early  spring  of  1836,  when  I  was  about  one  and  a  half 
years  old,  my  parents  emigrated  to  Tennessee,  where  we  lived 
about  a  year  and  a  half  more,  and  then  emigrated  to  Livingston 
county,  Missouri,  during  the  summer  of  1837.  I  was  but 
three  years  old,  but  I  can  remember  how  the  cars  looked,  and 
how  they  scared  me,  and  how  I  ran  from  them ;  and  I  can  re- 
collect that  on  tin;  way  we  went  to  see  a  menagerie  of  wild 
animals,  and  I  remember  the  lions,  tigers,  and  other  animals; 
I  also  recollect  that  we  went  to  a  river  that  was  diflirult  to 
cross,  and  some  people  were  swimming  their  cattle  across,  and 
a  man  was  there  with  a  canoe;  a  white  cow  went  down  stream, 
and  this  man  went  after  her  with  his  canoe,  and  got  her  out  on 
shore  again.  These  little  incidents  serve  to  show  that  my 
memory  is  quite  good.  When  at  our  journey's  end,  father 
rented  a  place  from  a  man  by  the  name  of  Livingston,  that  the 
county  was  named  alter.  Wo  lived  there  during  that  winter, 
and  the  next  spring  father  put  in  a  crop  of  corn,  wheat,  and 
oats.  Father  was  an  honest,  hard-working  man,  and  mother 
was  a  good  woman.  We  lived  in  the  simple  style  of  the 


8  Confessions  of  James  Gilbert  Jenkins. 

country  in  those  early  days,  with  nothing  of  particular  note 
taking  place  to  vary  the  general  routine  of  our  lives.  I  re- 
member when  the  corn  was  gathered  in  the  fall,  I  used  to  ride 
on  the  loads  up  to  the  barn,  and,  in  passing  under  a  large 
timber  that  was  placed  across  the  top  of  the  tall  gate  posts,  I 
was  knocked  off  twice,  by  letting  my  head  come  in  contact 
with  this  beam. 

In  the  early  part  of  the  winter,  father  went  to  Gentry 
county  to  build  a  couple  of  chimneys  (he  was  a  mason  by 
trade),  leaving  his  family  at  home.  While  he  was  there,  he 
took  up  a  piece  of  government  land  and  built  a  house  on  it. 
Just  about  Christmas,  father  returned  home  ;  the  snow  at  that 
time  being  about  two  feet  deep.  It  was  not  common  for  father 
to  be  away  from  home,  and  his  coming  was  looked  for  with 
much  anxiety  by  the  whole  family.  When  he  returned  home, 
a  little  incident  happened  that  I  well  remember.  We  had  all 
gone  to  bed,  and  all  were  sleeping,  except  mother;  the  night 
was  cold  and  still ;  she  heard  him  whistling  a  long  way  off,  and 
called  to  us  children,  and  told  us  he  was  coming.  It  was  ten 
o'clock  at  night,  but  we  jumped  out  of  bed  and  went  waddling 
through  the  snow,  which  was  up  to  our  knees,  to  meet  him ; 
(when  I  say  we,  I  mean  my  sister,  who  was  next  younger  than 
me,  and  a  brother,  still  younger  than  her) ;  we  went  without 
other  clothes  than  our  night  clothes,  just  as  we  got  out  of 
bed,  and  were  nearly  frozen,  but  father  picked  us  all  three  up 
in  his  arms,  and  packed  us  into  the  house.  We  sat  up  about 
two  hours,  talking  with  father  about  the  country  where  he  had 
been,  and  then  went  to  bed  about  midnight,  feeling  glad  and 
happy  that  father  had  come  home. 

We  lived  there  until  spring,  with  nothing  of  particular 
note  taking  place,  and  then  went  into  Gentry  county  to  the 
land  father  had  bought  and  the  house  he  had  built.  He  broke 
up  some  land  and  put  in  a  crop  that  spring.  The  country  was 
new  and  but  few  people  lived  there,  neigbors  being  five  or  six 
miles  apart,  consequently  we  had  no  school,  and  I  had  no 
chance  to  learn  anything  with  the  exception  that  sometimes  of 


My    First    and    Only    Term   at  School.  9 

nights  mother  would  hear  us  spell,  having  us  all  that  v, 
large  enough  sit  down  while  she  taught  us.  The  summer 
passed  away,  and  in  the  fall,  father  went  away  to  be  gone 
three  months,  to  work  at  his  trade,  and  mother  lived  alone  with 
the  children,  while  he  was  gone — the  family  now  consisting  of 
myself,  my  sister  Nancy,  and  two  brothers,  Albert  and  George. 
Towards  spring,  father  came  home,  and  everything  went  on 
happy  and  pleasant,  without  anything  of  note  taking  place.  I 
used  to  go  and  help  the  neighbors  plant  corn,  by  dropping  it 
for  them,  for  two  or  three  bits  a  day.  Thus  time  went  on  until 
the  summer  that  I  was  nine  years  old.  By  this  time,  the 
country  had  become  settled  enough  so  that  then;  were,  children 
enough  to  make  up  a  school ;  a  teacher  was  hired,  and  we  had 
a  school  of  twenty-five  scholars. 

MY   FIRST   AND    ONLY    TKUM    AT    SCHOOL. 

The  teacher's  name  was  Linville,  and  they  paid  him  three 
dollars  a  month  for  each  scholar.  Well,  the  school  opened, 
and  our  parents  sent  me  and  my  sister  to  school ;  it  was  five 
miles  away,  and  we  had  this  to  walk  every  night  and  morning. 
The  school  opened  on  Monday  morning,  and  me  and  my  sister 
fixed  up  in  our  nicest  clothes,  took  our  dinners  in  a  little  basket 
and  started  for  school.  We  had  a  little  pet  deer,  nearly  half- 
grown,  with  the  spots  still  on  it,  and  as  we  started  oil' to  school 
on  the  run,  this  deer  followed  us.  We  run  most  of  the  way 
that  morning,  hurrying  for  fear  of  being  too  late,  but  we  got 
there  in  time — the  little  deer  making  number  three.  We  ar- 
rived just  as  the  teacher  did,  and  lie  opened  the  door  and  told  us 
to  go  in,  which  we  did,  sister  taking  one  side  of  the  room  and 
I  the  other.  The  rest  of  iho  scholars  soon  came  in,  and  the 
master  rapped  on  the  desk  wiili  his  ferule  and  called  the  school 
to  order.  He  was  a  tall,  slim,  ugly-looking  t'rllow,  with  a  long 
nose,  freckled  face,  very  long  teeth,  and  jet  black  hair;  but 
though  he  was  ugly  looking,  we  all  soon  learned  to  like  him, 
for  he  was  a  good,  clever  fellow.  After  he  called  the  school  to 
order,  he  came  to  me  the  first  one  and  said,  "  Bub,  what  is 


io  Confessions  of  James  Gilbert  Jenkins. 

your  name  ?  "  I  told  him  my  name  was  James  Gilbert  Jenkins. 
He  then  said,  "you  are  a  nice  little  boy,  I  believe  ;  "  and  asked 
me  if  I  knew  my  A  B  C's.  I  told  him  I  did ;  and,  by  his  re- 
questing me  to  do  so,  I  said  them  all  for  him,  and  then  he  said, 
"  you  are  a  fine  boy."  After  this  he  went  around  the  room  in 
the  same  manner.  I  remember  the  boy  he  next  went  to  was 
named  George  Foster.  When  he  asked  him  if  he  knew  the 
alphabet,  he  answered,  "  No  sir ;  I  d-o-n-'t ;"  and  the  em- 
phatic manner  in  which  he  spoke  the  word  "don't,"  and  the 
long  time  he  dwelt  on  the  sound,  made  us  laugh.  I  went  to 
school  every  day,  and  took  much  interest  in  it ;  the  little  deer 
always  keeping  us  company.  It  would  come  into  the  school- 
house  and  lay  down  by  me,  and,  when  I  went  to  the  teacher 
for  anything,  it  would  go  along  with  me,  and  sometimes  it 
would  rear  up  on  its  hind  legs  and  put  its  fore  legs  on  my  back, 
and  causing  the  whole  school  to  laugh.  The  teacher  did  not 
seem  to  care  much  for  this,  and  would  only  tap  on  the  floor 
with  his  foot  to  stop  the  laughing,  and  let  the  deer  remain  in 
the  room.  He  was  a  good  teacher,  and  did  not  whip  any  of  us 
for  a  month  after  school  commenced.  We  were  all  small 
scholars,  and  he  would  sometimes  give  us  as  much  as  three 
hours  at  noon,  thereby  cutting  short  the  hours  of  study.  If 
any  of  us  fell  asleep,  he  would  carefully  fix  us  on  the  linn- 
wood  benches,  which  were  only  thick  planks  hewed  out  with 
legs  stuck  in  them.  The  master  whipped  me  twice  while  I 
was  at  school,  for  having  little  fights  with  the  boys.  I  loved 
to  study,  and  was  always  at  the  head  of  my  class ;  got  my  les- 
sons well,  and  was  there  every  day  for  three  months,  just  as 
regular  as  the  days  came. 

We  used  to  run  foot  races  quite  often — the  master  as  well 
as  the  boys ;  and  one  night  after  school,  master  and  I  set  out  to 
run  one.  I  could  beat  all  the  boys  running,  and  I  could  whip 
them  all  in  the  little  boy  fights,  and  I  could  throw  them  all 
wrestling,  so  I  felt  very  smart,  and  was  quite  willing  to  run 
with  the  master.  We  started  at  the  word,  but  the  master  soon 
stubbed  his  toe,  fell  down,  and  I  came  out  ahead.  I  always 


Went    Away    with    John    Forbes.  i  i 

had  the  grin  on  him  after  that,  and  every  night,  after  school 
was  out,  I  would  ask  him  if  he  wanted  to  run  another  race. 

Thus  three  months  of  school  passed  pleasantly  away,  and 
one  night,  when  I  came  home  from  school,  I  found  a  man  talk- 
ing with  my  father  out  in  the  door-yard  a  little  ways  from  the 
house.  As  I  came  up,  father  spoke  to  me  and  said:  "Jimmy. 
here  is  a  man  that  wants  you  to  go  with  him  and  ride  his  re 
horses."  I  said  to  father,  "I  can't,  for  I  am  <:oing  to  school." 
The  stranger  then  spoke  and  said:  "I  will  take  you  and  give 
you  a  better  schooling  than  you  could  get  here."  I  then  went 
on  into  the  house;  supper  was  soon  ready,  and  we  all  took 
supper.  This  man's  name  was  John  F«rbts.  lie  stayed  with  us 
that  night,  and  made  an  agreement  with  lather  to  give  me  a 
good  schooling,  and  at  the  end  of  such  a  time,  (I  forget  the 
length  of  time,)  he  was  to  give  me  five  hundred  dollars  in  cash 
and  a  good  horse,  saddle  and  bridle. 

WKXT   AWAY    WITH    .lolIN    Fol; 

The  next  morning,  one  of  Forbes'  horses  was  fixed  up  for 
me,  and  I  started  off  with  him,  leaving  my  lather  and  mother, 
sister,  brothers  and  school,  to  go  with  this  stranger,  when  I 
was  but  nine  years  old,  to  be  schooled  in  the  black  and  bloody 
art  of  thieves  and  murderers.  This  man  Forbes,  ;,<  I  after- 
wards  learned,  was  the  head  of  a  company  of  horse-racers, 
gamblers  and  highwaymen.  The  only  other  man's  name  that 
I  remember  as  belonging  to  this  company  was  J'eters.  We 
started  off  on  a  trip,  and  went  into  lireckenridge  county,  in  tin- 
edge  of  Kentucky,  and  there  we  had  a  race  for  one  thousand 
dollars;  the  race  was  run,  we  won  it,  and  got  the  money;  but 
we  had  two  fights  over  it,  and  John  Forbes  shot  one  man  dead 
on  the  ground.  The  men  were  am  -ted,  had  their  trial,  and 
came  off  clear.  After  this  we  went  to  Illinois  ami  stayed  about 
three  months,  and  while  there,  we  made  a  race  for  three  hun- 
dred dollars;  this  was  a  sham  race,  which  we  got  up  on  pur- 
pose to  lose,  in  order  that  we  might  do  better;  the  race  was 
run,  and  of  course  we  lost.  In  about  three  weeks,  the  r 


